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Ben Finn
Captain Benjamin "Ben" Finn is a soldier in the Swift Brigade of the Albion Royal Army under the command of Major Swift, and an ally to the Hero of Brightwall in Fable III. He has a very strong connection with Major Swift, who is much like a father figure to Ben. As a member of the "Old Guard" and due to his connections to Major Swift, he is marked as a traitor by King Logan. Early Life Benjamin Finn was born in the small hamlet referred to as Gunk, Ben being the youngest of four children. Throughout most of his life, Ben has never truly felt at home anywhere. Raised by his shop-keeping parents, who often struggled to buy shoes for Ben and his brothers and put food on the table, Ben and his brothers had to find other sources of sustenance, money and entertainment. Despite his small hands, Ben was never as good as his brothers in the boys' main source of income: pickpocketing. Ben believes that this ineptitude was due in part to the fact that he recognized the immorality of pickpocketing, even at age eight. Instead, Ben earned money as a street performer, standing in the town square telling jokes and falling over repeatedly. Even though his jokes were crude, he believed the work to be honest - or at least it would have been had his brothers not taken the opportunity to rob the distracted villagers blind. Because of his help in getting them their ill-gotten gains, on his eleventh birthday his brothers bought him a beautiful pellet gun, which he saw as the greatest gift he had ever received. It was with that pellet gun that Ben discovered his second talent: a rather surprising accuracy with firearms. It was not long after he discovered this fact that his brothers put his talent to "good" use. His brothers would set up a fair booth in which they challenged all comers to pit their target practice skills against Ben's. After fleecing all the locals, they soon had to rely on traders, passers-by and the occasional neighbouring villagers, out of which more often than not they would have been run out by the authorities. While his accomplices spent or gambled most of their earnings, Ben saved every gold coin he could so that he could one day fulfil his burning desire to explore Albion and become a great adventurer like the ones he read about in two-penny pamphlets and third-hand story books. More than anything, he wanted to meet Heroes, even though he knew that their heyday had long since passed and that the ageing ruler of the kingdom was the last. It was the death of this hero when he was fifteen that marked the beginning of a series of tragedies that were to befall his family. His oldest brother, Jason, was killed in a duel with an irate farmer that so happened to be the husband of Jason's last sexual conquest. They duelled with pitchforks, and since Jason had never done an honest days' work in his life, he made the fatal mistake of holding his pitchfork the wrong way. Shortly after Jason died, Ben's second oldest brother William was arrested for trying to run a con game on the wrong person (a passing plain clothes town guard). William was taken to Bowerstone and was never heard from again. Ben's third brother, Quentin, accumulated enough gambling debts to have a price put on his head. Ben remembers Quentin's death most clearly since he was unfortunate enough to witness it. When the assassins and bounty hunters came in to collect, Ben did what he could to protect Quentin, but no matter how accurate Ben's shots were from his rifle, it didn't change the fact that he was shooting peas instead of bullets (as he had never been able to afford a real rifle). It was no surprise to him when his mother died next, grief-stricken by the loss of her three sons. Ben's mother left his father a drunken widower (though drunk only when he could afford it, poverty making his attempts to drown his sorrows harder). Even though Ben did what he could to help out in his father's shop, employing all his wit and charm to become a highly persuasive salesman. It was obvious that there wasn't much of a market for novelty toothbrushes in such a small village, especially one that made such an effort to avoid any form of oral hygiene. Soon enough, Ben's father passed away (far more sober than he would have liked). It was then Ben resolved to leave Gunk for good, and to seek his fortune and adventures in the kingdom of Albion. With what little gold he had saved in his youth now gone (having to spend it all on the quick succession of funerals and having to pay off his brother's gambling and business debts), he left his so-called home as penniless as he had entered it seventeen years ago. Unable to pursue his dream as an explorer, he found himself gravitating towards the main cities and doing a variety of jobs. He stacked books at the Brightwall Library, absorbing as much knowledge as he could about the world from them; served drinks at the Cow and Corset in Bowerstone, after he established that his comedy routine would bring him nowhere among the more sophisticated urban crowd; and eventually managed to put his shooting skills to work as he became a bodyguard who protected traders as they travelled from town to town. It was at this point that Ben finally had a real rifle in his possession, and using it against bandits, hobbes and other enemies the trading caravans attracted felt as natural as breathing to him. The wages he earned were so superior to those he previously earned that he soon had enough gold to make his dream come true. After obtaining the supplies he would need, Ben set out to experience the adventures he'd read about since he was young, exploring every corner of Albion. During the next few years, Ben hunted hidden treasures and set out on dangerous quests in the same manner as the Heroes of legend. In a short time, he exhausted almost every legitimate means by which any young man could experience life at its fullest. This exhaustion coupled with the fact that he never could quite shake off his involvement (intentional or otherwise) with criminal activity led him to run with a band of smugglers that were operating out of the Bowerstone port. After a few weeks, as was inevitable, Ben ended up in Bloodstone, where he found an (until then hidden) appetite for the pleasures that only the lowest of societies could provide. Ben is embarrassed to recall the days he spent drinking, gambling, and indulging in other unsavoury pastimes, but is embarrassed further to recall the succession of women that he fell in love with (describing them as strong minded and even stronger thighed). The only excuse Ben has for this behaviour is that it was in his blood, and while he had not followed his brother's examples while they lived, he celebrated their memories by following them at that point in time. One balmy night, Ben boarded a motley crewed frigate while heavily drunk. Hardly pleased by the company and the profession he was forced to embrace, he looked forward to the chance to see the world that was beyond Albion (although the plundering nature of the voyage spoiled any tourism he would have otherwise enjoyed in the foreign lands they visited). Ben's impressions of such exotic locations was inextricably tied in with the images of the locals waving sharp implements in a threatening manner as the ship he was on set sail for the horizon. The next time they docked in Bowerstone with the intention of selling their wares to the black market, Ben took the chance to leave that chapter of his life behind him, with very few regrets (but quite a few cuts, bruises and monkey bites). It was there that he met a man who was to change his life for the better, and offer him a career that would give him what he longed for the most: a sense of belonging, a new family and a lawfully gained wage. It was then that Ben was about to join the Albion royal army. Sometime during his service in the army, Ben's fellow officers and enlisted men encouraged him to write a book about his life after hearing him tell stories about his years before he enlisted. Fable III Ben makes his first appearance in Mourningwood during the quest The Hollow Legion at the Mourningwood Fort. He along with Jammy instruct the prince/princess on how to operate the fort's mortar. When the hollow men enter the fort, Ben fights alongside the prince/princess, Walter, Major Swift, and the remaining soldiers that are at the fort. When the hollow men are defeated and Major Swift asks the prince/princess to restore honour to the uniform, Ben adds how he wishes for a pay raise. Ben is later seen before the The Masquerade quest, telling Page how he killed three hollow men with one shot. She tells him that she doesn't care, to which he tries to get Walter and the Hero to tell her that it really happened. When she tells the Hero of her plan to infiltrate Reaver's party, Ben states how he wishes to go with them. Page refuses to let him come along (saying she didn't trust soldiers and wasn't going to start with him) and orders everyone to leave so that she may change. Ben then offered to stay behind to make sure that no one would spy on her as she was getting changed, but he is told to leave once more. Disappointed, he states how 'their relationship' wasn't going to work out and if he had known he couldn't join, he'd had gone with Major Swift to the castle. Page remarks how she doesn't like soldiers in the hideout (the only exceptions being Walter and Major Swift, who had just left). It turns out that staying behind saved his life. Ben meets up with the Hero at Bowerstone Castle after it's announced that Logan was giving out an important speech. Ben is horrified to find out that Logan found out that Major Swift was aiding the Revolution. When Logan executes Swift, Ben is furious but is able to gather himself together to inform the others of what had happened to Major Swift. Back at the hideout, Page and Walter try to comfort him, Walter telling him that he died a noble death. Ben disagrees, saying that he was treated like an animal before he was killed. Walter reminds him that Major Swift didn't give any information away and managed to send them a message of where to go next. Ben goes with the Hero to a warehouse, telling the Hero that Swift taught him almost everything he knew about being a soldier. Upon gaining entry, Ben tells the Hero to 'show them what traitors are capable of'. Once they reach the docks, Ben is worried when he sees that Page isn't with Walter. After Walter tells him that she had to stay behind, they steal a boat and leave for Aurora. He, along with the Hero of Brightwall and Sir Walter, are shipwrecked in Aurora. Although separated from Walter and the Hero, fortunately he is found by Kalin and taken to the City of Aurora. At first he believes the Hero and Walter to be dead, but after realizing that he was being stupid, he used his wit and charm to convince Kalin to send a search party to look for the player and Sir Walter. After the Hero gets overwhelmed by The Crawler's darkness, he later finds the player along with the nearly dead Sir Walter. The player awakes in the desert to Ben hovering just inside their vision. He reassuringly pats the player's hand, telling them that he'll find Walter. Kalin then takes the Hero to the City of Aurora. After both recover, Ben joins them on they way to the assault on Bowerstone Castle. After the Revolution, when Logan is put on trial, Ben, now the Major's successor, wishes for him to be executed for the way Swift was murdered. After the final battle against the Crawler, he joins Walter's funeral service, employing his typical chatty sense of humour in honouring Walter. Afterwards he leaves, saying that the life of being a General wasn't for him and that he will return to adventuring, or "help Page with Bowerstone." In Fable: Edge of the World, his successor is revealed to be the loyal soldier Jack Timmins. ''Fable: Blood Ties'' Shortly after the successful defense of Albion against the Crawler, Ben Finn decides to leave Bowerstone behind and go adventuring once again, determined to keep the resolution he made at Walter Beck's funeral and sick of his newfound celebrity. After unsuccessfully attempting to convince Page to join him, Ben sets off for Mourningwood. Ben travels the roads of Mourningwood, lost in thought, when he is suddenly warned by a mysterious voice of the two creeping hobbes that are preparing to ambush him. Dispatching them with ease, Ben expresses his gratitude to his mysterious benefactor, only to learn that it was a gnome that saved his life. Tired of the never-ending barrage of insults typical to gnomes, leaves the gnome in the dirt and sets off once again, only to learn that the gnome continues to follow at his heels, insulting him wherever he goes. The gnome seemingly disappears, however, after Ben takes a midday nap beneath a tree. Relieved, he travels through the woods. When venturing into the wilds of Mourningwood, Ben finds his old friend Baron, a former member of the Swift Brigade, along with several other former comrades of Ben's days in the military. Swapping heroic tales of the later Major Swift, talk eventually turns to the large walled town of Blackholm, currently under siege by the warlord named Droogan. When the former soldier Trevor explains that Blackholm doesn't have the money to hire mercenaries like themselves, a voice calls the group out for their cowardice in an unerring imitation of Ben's own voice. Ben quickly clambers onto the back of the nearby brown stallion named Clash, retrieves the troublesome gnome, and gallops off in a hasty retreat, leaving his former comrades behind. Arriving in Blackholm, Ben quickly approaches the militia leader, Old Henry, who gets Ben in position right before Droogan's forces pour out from the nearby woods. However, the unlucky mercenaries were not expecting the exceptional marksmanship skills of Ben Finn, who quickly picks off a vast majority of them from the walls. Rushing to save the wounded militia member named Russell, Ben returns to help in the ongoing battle, dishing out heavy losses to the enemy and forcing them to retreat. Old Henry expresses his undying gratitude, revealing that Russell was his son, and invites the revolutionary hero a chance to stay in Blackholm and train the men. Ben readily agrees. One night, as Ben and Old Henry keep watch on the ramparts, Old Henry is suddenly struck in the head by an arrow, which kills him instantly. Instantly, hordes of gray-skinned, yellow-eyed, hunched over creatures called Half-breeds charge the walled town, successfully breaching the town gate. Ben charges the horde, challenging their leader before he spies a signet ring on the creature's finger-a signet ring of the Finn family. Recognizing the creature as his long lost brother William, the Half-breed leader calls out for a retreat. Ben, intrigued and curious, gives chase throughout the night, arriving at a sprawling mansion in Millfields. Infiltrating the mansion, Ben eavesdrops on a conversation between Droogan and the owner of the house, the ex-pirate-turned-business-mogul Reaver, in which he learns that Droogan is paying Reaver to use the Half-breeds. Infiltrating the manor further, Ben finds his brother being tortured by the alchemist named Baro, who he beats to near death before rescuing William. However, they are soon caught by Reaver's guards and dragged to Reaver, who explains that Baro is their only hope for a cure and that he is the only one who can control their animal instincts. Through a long negotiation, Reaver agrees to let Ben and William go if Ben assassinates Page, who has proven meddlesome time-and-time again during the monarch's rulings in the previous year. Ben agrees. Upon reaching Bowerstone, Ben extracts Page from The Cock in the Crown pub, where she was busy fighting several thugs. Convincing Page to accompany him on behalf of the people of Blackholm, Ben finds that he cannot assassinate Page after she seemingly goes to sleep. It is revealed, however, that Page expected the double-cross, forcing Ben to explain the events of the past few days. Before they can come to a conclusion, the group is overwhelmed by Half-breeds, who capture Page and drag her back to Reaver's Manor. Giving chase, Reaver presents Ben a choice-let Page get torn apart in his arena and be set free, or defend Page and die with her. However, the Half-breed executioners never arrive, as the gnome destroyed the crystal that allowed Reaver to control the monsters. Completely unfazed, Reaver admits that, come daylight, the horde will revert to their animal natures, starting by attacking Blackholm. Ben rushes to save the town, setting off with Page and the gnome on Clash. Arriving in Blackholm, Ben discovers that Droogan has occupied the city under the rule of Captain Thorpe with the help of Baron and the other former Swift Brigade members, but successfully convinces them to join in the defense of the town. During the battle, William seizes a bandolier of grenades, intending to sacrifice himself to destroy the Half-breeds by summoning them to him before pulling the pin in an attempt to die as a man rather than live as a beast. Unfortunately, the rising sun causes William to lose the last vestiges of his humanity, forcing Ben to shoot the grenade and kill his brother, which stops the Half-breeds and saves Blackholm. A week later, a triumphant Warlord Droogan rides into the occupied town, only to be arrested by Captain Thorpe and Russell, who has become the town mayor. Russell entreats Ben to stay, but Ben decides to follow Page back to Bowerstone. ''Fable: Edge of the World'' Nearly ten years after the successful defense of Albion against the forces of the Darkness, Ben Finn is back at Bowerstone Castle, nervously preparing himself for his duty as best man to his friend, the Hero of Brightwall, for his wedding to Laylah. The Hero admits that he is glad that Ben Finn could serve in this capacity, but Ben laments that he is simply fulfilling a duty that should have been attended to by Walter Beck. Shortly after the wedding, the ceremony is interrupted by the sudden appearance of Shan, an envoy from Samarkand who has come to Albion to ask for aid against the re-emerging forces of the Darkness. Gravely concerned, the Hero sets off to lead a military expedition against the Darkness and the usurper known only as the Empress, accompanied once again by Ben Finn. Forced away from landing in the port town of Fairwinds by local ships crewed by hollow men, the army makes it way through the Great Trade Road to the capital city of Zahadar, recruiting the Hero of Bowerstone's old ally, Garth, along the way. Ben Finn joins in the attack on Zahadar, a committed full-frontal assault lead by Garth to distract the Empress and her troops while the Hero King sneaked around the back and captured her. On the verge of victory, however, the sudden appearance of the Darkness forces the Albion Royal Army, including Ben, to retreat. A distraught and infuriated Ben wishes to go back for his friend and King, but Garth cautions against rash action, reminding the group that they will need a plan. Ben, in addition to Percival and Kalin, sadly agree. Personality Ben Finn is an adventurous individual, describing himself as a 'vagabond by trade' in Fable: Blood Ties. Though Ben Finn often finds himself in sticky situations, more often than not on the wrong side of the law, Ben Finn possesses a good nature, trying to do right by the people even if that was not necessarily doing right by the law. This mentality is what drove him to abandon his adventure-seeking lifestyle to join the Albion Royal Army. Between his sense of loyalty and his camaraderie, Ben Finn makes for a fine companion both on and off the battlefield. Ben Finn is infamous for his sense of humour, also finding time to make some acerbic comment or throw out a witty comeback to friends regardless of the stature or status, joking to Walter Beck and even the Hero of Brightwall despite their superiority in rank. Ben also regularly berates his foes in the heat of battle, even during the siege of Mourningwood Fort or amidst the revolutionary battle in Bowerstone. The only time that this is ever dialed back is during the battle against the Darkness. Accompanying Ben Finn's sense of humour, his adventurous streak, and his self-perceived dashing is a keen and regular interest in women. Ben mostly jokes with and teases women, especially Page. In his own memoirs, Ben admits to a certain amount of shame when he recalls the succession of strong-willed, strong thighed women he fell in love with over the course of his career as an adventurer and an occasional smuggler, having even named his rifle 'Vanessa' after the first woman he slept with. Ben is evidently considered an attractive sort by many throughout Albion, with both the novels and his Hero Doll description elaborating upon his success with women. Despite his usual good nature, occasionally Ben displays a much darker streak, normally after one of his friends or family are threatened or hurt. When Major Swift was executed, Ben added his voice to those who called for Logan's own execution upon winning the revolutionary battle. In Fable: Blood Ties, this is further elaborated upon, in which Ben abandons his cause of protecting Blackholm to pursue his brother with a single-minded fervor. ''Fable Heroes'' Ben Finn returns in Fable Heroes, an Xbox LIVE Arcade game, as a playable character. He is unlocked by Reaver on the Hero Tile of the Abilities Board. Ben Finn: ladies’ man, crack shot, occasional smuggler. A country boy with dreams of adventure, Ben sought out excitement wherever he could find it – which, more often than not, happened to be in Albion’s least salubrious port towns. The army offered him a chance to go straight, and Ben was a soldier of some distinction before turning against King Logan in support of the Bowerstone Resistance. Ben is one of the most popular Hero Dolls, in no small part due to a mysterious recent boom in the number of blonde-haired children in Albion’s coastal regions. :— Description of Ben Finn from Fable Friday Trivia *He is voiced by Simon Pegg. *Ben Finn's sword model looks exactly like the Wreckager, the legendary cutlass from Fable II. His rifle model is that of a Steel Flintlock Rifle. He also has what appears to be a Steel Flintlock Pistol holstered on his left side and is never seen using it. *Simon Pegg described him as a "man who wants to do the right thing but is constantly sucked back into criminality". *He's very skilled in ranged combat, and almost exclusively uses his gun during fights. *As a major NPC, he cannot be romanced in any way possible. *A portrait furniture piece of Ben Finn can be found in a chest in the rebel headquarters in the Sewers. It can also be won from the Mourningwood Fort mortar mini-game if you score higher than 2000 points, after getting the legendary weapon award. *On his wanted poster, he is labelled as a coward and a traitor, and is wanted for treason. *Ben is a Captain in the Albion royal army. *Ben has a story about hitting three hollow men with one shot. This is likely a reference to the Fable II achievement "The Sharpshooter", where the Hero must shoot three enemies with a single shot. *Ben and Major Swift are the only characters seen equipped with two ranged weapons. *Despite being a Captain, Ben seems to be a poor tactician. This can be observed twice: when he and the Hero attempt to gain entry into a guarded warehouse and when the leaders of the rebellion are formulating their plan to attack Bowerstone Castle. It can be argued that this may not be the case: the former he didn't even have a plan in the first place and may have merely wanted to get into a fight to avenge Major Swift, and the latter he claims to have only suggested his plan just to annoy Page. *According to Walter, Ben is a strong swimmer. *In his book, he mentions that he instantly had a talent at firearms, even as a child. This may indicate Heroic blood, specifically in the Hero discipline of Skill. *There is sometimes a glitch in Mourningwood Fort where Ben's hands appear to be holding a rifle but the rifle is strapped on his back. *During the final battle, Ben can be seen in one of the houses after defeating the first Dark Guardian. He's seen in waving at the hero through the window. *During the Mourningword Fort attack he may yell "Take that you undead zombie!" This is one of the many references to in-game scholars arguments that hollow men aren't zombies. *Due to the number of women he has slept with, Ben believes that there may or may not be "a bunch of little Finns running about". *He is one of the three Heroes in Fable Heroes that uses a pistol. *In the novel Fable: Blood Ties, it is revealed Ben named his rifle "Vanessa". He had named it after the prostitute who took his virginity. Quotes es:Ben Finn Category:Albion Military Category:Fable III Characters Category:Fable: Blood Ties Characters Category:Fable: Edge of the World Characters